A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

When the Saru Prince, also called Gindu Raja, disappears beneath water rising in a dry tank during his father-in-law’s attempt to sacrifice him, two daughters of the Snake King and Queen receive him below the surface. His wife later mourns daily at the tank after learning the truth from two speaking dogs. Hearing her lament, the sisters take pity and order their frog chowkidar to restore the prince to her.

The daughters’ parentage and shared action are explicit, but the account supplies neither individual names nor a bodily description, and does not say that either marries the prince. They preserve and release a person whom the earthly king believes sacrificed; the text does not describe them reviving a corpse. Their compassionate intervention is a specific narrative act, not a complete description of a snake-royal cosmology.

Two underwater sisters whose compassion reunites a transformed prince with his wifeSpecific Santal narrative witness
01

Origins & earliest records

Santal Parganas, eastern India; source-specific Santali storytelling

02

Records & interpretation

Complete relevant tale directly read with existing collection preface and narrator-chain record.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Folklore of the Santal Parganas

    Cecil Henry Bompas, translator; O. Bodding, collector; Sagram Murmu, principal Santali writer credited in preface · 1909

    LXXV, The Caterpillar Boy, pp. 227–232

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Direct primary record

Cecil Henry Bompas, Folklore of the Santal Parganas (1909)

Part I, Santal folktales. LXXV, The Caterpillar Boy, pp. 227–232

Entire relevant tale read, including ending. Ordinary comparison dog distinguished from actual skin-removing bride; snake sisters have no supplied anatomy or princely marriage; frog notice remains proportionately brief.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical translation of collected narrativesBompas, Folklore of the Santal Parganas (1909), LXXV, The Caterpillar Boy, pp. 227–232Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

FT·1680 · RESEARCH EDITION 01Back to top ↑